Supermarine Type 525

The Supermarine Type 525 was a British prototype naval jet fighter of the 1950s, a late development of the Type 508. Three Type 508 aircraft were ordered in November 1947 to Air Ministry specification N.9/47 as development machines for a carrier-borne interceptor, reconnaissance and low-level nuclear strike aircraft that became the Scimitar. The first Type 508 had straight wings and a V-tail; the second was redesignated the Type 529; and the third, VX138, was altered on the production line to be closer to Scimitar standards and became the Type 525. It was delivered by road to Boscombe Down on 25 April 1954 and made its first flight on 27 April 1954 in the hands of Supermarine test pilot Mike Lithgow. It had two Rolls-Royce Avon turbojets, swept wings, a taller tricycle undercarriage and a conventional tail, and made its first public appearance at the September 1954 Farnborough Airshow.